Great White North

I am not a big fan of fireworks so Independence Day weekend in the USA took Brendan and myself straight north towards Edmonton. It was a beautiful weekend to be in the car all weekend. :) We were both struck by how far north we were and being so close to the summer solstice, how many hours of the day it was sunny. This actually struck us in a bad way race morning. We woke in a panic thinking we had missed the start of the race that we had driven 12 hours for. It turns out that it was 4am and the sun was full fledged up and the alarm had not even gone off. RELIEF!

The drive was painless for such a haul. Race morning came quickly and we stumbled from our campsite to race site to get our bikes and T1s ready. I made the wonderful mistake at a race earlier this year of forgetting to fill my water bottles with water (although they had fuel in them) so I checked transition once, and then I checked it again to make sure I was all in order for a flawless race. Once I decided I was I put on my speedy Zoot Helix and headed down the water.

The race was a two loop swim. I lined up in front and when the gun went off I felt as if I was in a washing machine. There was no separate pro start for the Canadian race and I have not been swimming as much as I was earlier in the year hence the washing machine like feeling. At least I kept it under 30!

I was stripped of my wetsuit and on my way on my never before raced Orbea Ordu (the red one). The Great White North bike course is a pretty fast bike generally. Its rolly with quite a bit of wind and two sizeable climbs. I was focused on keeping my heart rate where it needed to be, eating and drinking on schedule, and staying in contact or moving up with those around me. It made the bike fly by and before I knew it I was into T2 in 5th place. Transitions included, I rode a 2:28 and change, and I was thrilled about it.

We hadn't visited T2 yet, which was a bit scary, but I spotted my Zoot Ultra Tempos quckly and was on my way to the run course. The run course was a blast! It was almost entirely on a bike path through town so it was windy with a few little rollers. For the most part it was flat and fast. I was told, although I couldn't see her, that 4th place was not very far in front of me. For the first time in a run race I was totally focused on what was going on in front of me, wanting to move up and knowing I had the training to do it, with little thought on what was going on behind me and if I was going to get caught. It made the run fly by and I was able to get within 25 seconds of 4th but I never closed it. With my surge from 17-20 kilometers I was a bit spent and she opened it back up to 1 minute. I was smiling all the way to the finish on the wonderful 4th of July because I had just raced a 4:37 and knocked 17 minutes off my previous personal best in a half iron while running 3 minutes faster than I ever had in a half marathon! I have coach Jim Bruskewitz to thank for getting me injury free and fast for this race.

To make it even better I was in the money and so was Brendan. He was chasing hard his entire race to get within 15 seconds of 1st. What a race! We capped off the holiday weekend with a beautiful awards ceremony and a drive back through Banff, spending all of our money at Lululemon. This was an awesome race that was very well put together by the race director, well supported by the community, and a great experience for every racer. This is a must do!

I am now amidst weddings and swim meets while training for my next races, Boulder 70.3 and Lake Stevens 70.3. Look for an update on the happenings in July before the races!

Triathlon season 2010.2

Hello all!

So I have been a bit absent from the scene as of late. I'M BACK!

While I was gone...
Going into IMSG I was a bit injured forcing me to choose between sure further injury by running or a swim/bike and hopefully keeping my current state of injury. I chose the latter and used May & June to recuperate and get my booty kicked into shape in a few MT road races.
The first was a snowy, ski resort race called Marysville. It was rough. We drove through a snowstorm on the way there, climbed a few mountain passes, wore every article of clothing we packed, and survived to tell the story.
Next was the Cow Country Classic. This is a meaningful race for me as it was my very first road race. On this day, I made the little break of Amy Fryckman on the first climb, got ridden off her wheel, held onto the second little group of 4, missed the attack by Tamara, and limped my way in for a tie with Lisa Curry for a shared third. We tried to hold hands across the finish line to no avail.
My third and last road race of the 2010 season was the Whitefish Stage Race. It was a criterium, time trial, and ciruit race. I pulled an absolute triathlete move in the criterium by dinking around in the first lap, taking my time getting into my pedals & cornering slowly. Meanwhile, NRO girlies were not waiting around for those like me, sending attacks off the front. I didn't see anyone until the final 5 laps because I was WAY off the back, doing my own early time trial warm-up. I made up lots of time in the time trial by placing 2nd only to Mrs. Fryckman. The circuit race was uneventful and flat. I had a bit of time to make up on 3rd and 4th for a chance at the podium. In the last lap I made the break without the 2 girls ahead of me. Sadly, I fell 1 second short.

Now my road season is done and triathlon season 2010.2 is beginning. My first race of season 2 is Great White North in Canada where I will be racing for the first time on my shiny new Orbea Ordu!

Bellyflop Contest!

I haven't posted in quite some time I see. I owe a Cali 70.3 and vacation update. Regardless, when I wasn't working out, here was how I spent yesterday in Tucson. Maybe I should have been kicking my feet up in the shade as I head into Ironman taper mode...but I didn't. I had a bellyflop contest with Brendan. Who won?

Riding dirty!

I have coined a new phrase! I think it's mine at least. Brendan asked me how my legs felt today mid-ride. Sometimes I respond, "great," other times it's "garbage." Today it was "dirty." My legs feel "dirty." They don't feel great, they don't feel terrible, they just feel like I have been training lots. Racing last weekend didn't give me "clean" legs by any means.

I knocked off the first race of the season with my buddies Brendan and Linsey. We traveled up to Phoenix after a big week of training to race the Desert Classic Duathlon. It was a race for the books as it was raining buckets and the run takes place on some single track on the desert floor. Lots of rain + desert singletrack = mud fest. We struggled to keep warm before the race, during the race, and after the race. After all was run, rode, and run I ended up 13th in a star-studded women's field. After awards, so Ben Hoffman and Brendan could pick up their 2nd and 6th place paychecks, we jetted to coffee for someone in the group's "favorite part of the day." First race is done and I will take it!

The Seattle Marathon

Thanksgiving weekend I journeyed to the Seattle area with my friend Phil to run the Seattle Marathon and visit a friend in law school. We began our trek on Friday morning from cold Missoula. On the way we were able to visit a 3-day-old baby and deliver him his first bicycle, an orange Strider. We rolled into Seattle and immediately went to the expo to register so the marathon would become a little more "real." No getting out of the thing after forking over my $125.

Saturday was my friend day with Anna. We did a few things I rarely do, like sleep in. I am actually not very good at it, while Anna is very good at it. Once I had given up on sleeping I put on my sneakers and headed out the door for my last easy jog before the big day. I had a set route that Anna had chosen for me. While en route I was seeing beautiful fall colors and some beastly hills...hills I was hoping were not on my easy run. It was not only an empty hope for my easy run but the lovely hills I soon discovered were part of the race course. Good thing I had been running some beastly hills in Missoula on my training runs. Once I was back to Anna's place we were quickly off to get our shopping fix and visit the famous Pike's Place Market. It was nice to shop but all I was thinking about was eating and getting off my feet so it wasn't long before we were back and I was organizing my race morning.

Race morning came quickly but I was ready. I have trained very diligently this fall to improve my weak run and I was ready to see the results. I navigated the Seattle public transit to the race start just in time to turn in my dry clothes and be ready for the start. I couldn't have asked for a smoother race. I held back a little in the first few miles and found a good running partner. Bill was from Oklahoma and he was running his 26th marathon but only weeks after a 102 mile, 24-hour race. Needless to say he wasn't running his normal pace I am sure but he knew what he was doing and where we needed to be to run my goal time, 3:30. The first half of the Seattle marathon is pretty flat or gentle climbs and descents. I felt great when I hit the halfway mark in 1:45 and change. A few miles later and I decided I was going to pick it up a bit. I started to pull away from the group I had been running with and started chasing the 3:30 pacer ahead of me. When I hit the dreaded climb at mile 20 I was still feeling chipper, my legs were turning over quickly, and I was passing people like crazy. Then I spotted my friends and I got really excited. Phil rode me to the top of the big climb and I felt like I was in the home stretch, the last 5 miles. I held my pace together, made a few more friends, and ran into the finishing stadium in 3:30:40. I was ecstatic to have run so close to my goal time with a very even split marathon. My hard work is finally paying off! My PR for a half is only 2 minutes faster than the 2 halfs that were part of my marathon.

Phil was a rockstar supporter, helping me up stairs, gathering dry clothes, and driving my around. The one food I crave after long runs and races is some good Mexican so the local picked a great restaurant where we gabbed with a few more friends before the straight-shot back to Missoula. Phil made this happen by driving the entire way with an often unconscious female in the passenger seat. It was a great weekend!

The Seattle Marathon will definitely be a memorable race for me. I can see this fall's work for the marathon is going to be end up being a turning point in my run.